Andrew mcternen



Patented Nov. 29, I898.

A McTERNEN NIPPLE FOR NURSING BOTTLES.

(Application filed Mar. 14, 1898.)

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(No Model.)

@Z'zficesses:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDRElV MC'TERNEN, OF ANDOVER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE TYER RUBBER COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

NIPPLE FOR NURSING-BOTTLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 615,095, dated November 29, 1898.

Application filed March 14, 1898.

T (pl-Z whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANDREW MOTERNEN, of Andover, county of Essex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Nipples for Nursing-Bottles, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

Nipples for nursing-bottles have been constructed in many ways to prevent collapsing, and thereby shutting off the flow of liquid, and at the same time adapting them to perform the necessary functions; but with the different forms now on the market the construction is such that there is every opportunity for the accumulation and retention of foreign matters, and as a consequence great care must be exercised in cleansing the nipples to prevent them from getting foul. In many instances, however, the requisite care and attention which are acknowledged to be necessary are not given, and the child suffers in consequence. Moreover, even with the proper attention it is difficult to get at the internal recesses and indentations and thoroughly remove the accumulations therein.

This invention has for its object to construct a nipple for a nursing-bottle which will not collapse, which is devoid of recesses and irregular formations of all kinds, which have a tendency to collect and retain foreign matters, the inner surface of which can readily be reached for cleansing, and yet which will possess all the usual and requisite features to adapt it for the purposes for which it is designed.

In accordance with this invention the nipple is constructed to present a thin elastic'bottie-receiving portion or neck, an oval-shaped bulb having a circular passage through it, preferably tapering from end to end and having a plane face and provided at its outer end with a thin dilating perforated diaphragm, said bulb when so formed presenting thickened walls with a plane-faced passage through it. Such a bulb will not col- Serial No. 673,700. (No model.)

lapse and will not collect and retain foreign matters, and hence it will not become foul. It can be easily and thoroughly cleansed by outwardly reversing the bottle-receiving portion, and said thin perforated diaphragm at the end of the plane-faced passage enables the liquid to be easily drawn from the nipple in a natural manner.

Figure 1 shows in vertical section a nipple for nursing-bottles embodying this invention; and Fig. 2, a cross-section of the nipple shown in Fig. 1, taken on the dotted line 2 2.

The nipple is formed with a thin elastic bottle-receiving portion a, adapting it to be easily drawn onto the bottle, and it has an oval-shaped bulb b, which is formed with a passage I) through it, made circular in crosssection and having plane sides or faces and preferably tapered from end to end, and at the outer end of said plane-faced passage a thin dilating perforated diaphragm 'Z) is formed. By forming the bulb in this manner a number of advantages are attained. The side walls, while soft and elastic enough to yield to pressure a little, will not collapse. The face of the passage being plane and smooth, having no recesses or irregular formations therein, no opportunity whatever is offered for the collection of foreign matters. When such passage is to be cleaned, the thin elastic web or bottle-receiving portion a may be simply turned up over the bulb, and thus reversed access is immediately had directly to the passage for almost its entire length.

The thin dilating diaphragm 6 in practice is stretched outwardly by the suction and in so stretching increases the size of its orifice in proportion to its tension, and consequently the amount of liquid delivered, in a natural manner.

I claim- A nipple for nursing-bottles composed of rubber or similar permanently elastic material, and consisting of a thin elastic bottlereceiving portion, an oval-shaped bulb having a smooth straight-walled passage through it and at the outer end of the passage a thin dilata-ble perforated diaphragm transverse to name to this specification in the presence of the axis thereof, the bulb so formed presenttwo subscribing witnesses. ing thickened side walls extending substantially to the apex to prevent collapse, and 5 the elastic portion permitting ready access to Witnesses:

the walls of the passage. JULEs A. DUVAL,

In testimony whereof I have signed my FRANK T. CARLTON.

ANDRE\V MCTERNEN. 

